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New Gallery: Light Findustry

A plate from Findysz' series, "Dirty Dishes."

It’s a store. It’s a gallery. No, it’s Findustry.

Normally a retail or gallery launch is accompanied by attention-grabbing, business-generating ballyhoo—an opening night party, at the very least. Not at Findustry. “Openings aren’t fun,” say owner John Findysz, in what is not the first indication that his is not a “gallery” or even a “store,” in the usual sense. That occurs to the first-time visitor earlier, when trying to find the place, which has neither a sign nor an address to call its own (it shares the building with the Victorian antiques shop next door, which has the number 701). What does grab the eye and draw one inside, however, are the window displays. But even these are self-deflecting. Last Saturday, for example, each showcase held one of a pair of chrome-and-white leather director’s chairs scrawled with Rufus Wainwright lyrics. That night the rock icon, Findysz’s boyfriend’s favorite, was giving a concert in Albany. Ten days earlier, the theme had been Stageworks’ production of Souvenir.

John Findysz (right), an artist who once was Visual Director of Windows and Merchandising at Jeffrey New York, the high-octane fashion boutique in Manhattan’s meat-packing district, visited Hudson for the first time last October to attend ArtWalk. Recognizing it as a highly livable center for all the things he cares about most—fashion, art, and theater— Findysz returned to NY to get his affairs in order, then two months later moved to Columbia County full time.

The idea for the store came later. “I hate working alone,” he says. “Besides, there’s nothing secret about my process. If someone wants to copy what I do, that’s okay.” So he opened Findustry, the studio/gallery/shop where he does his artwork, mostly iconic or found objects that he “subverts,” often in a racy way, and sells. He also sells other stuff that grabs his eye, including pre-owned fashion accessories and the work of other artists. “Being in this store is like being in my head,” he says. “I am not a technique-driven artist; I’m a provocateur; my work is about challenging art-and-design-world ideas.”